Saks Global files for Chapter 11, Downtown Dallas Neiman Marcus remains open

Saks Global officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move happened in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, according to a statement from the New York-based company sent late Tuesday. They said they still plan to operate through the bankruptcy filing.

In that same statement, the company called the move a “transformative financial transaction” that includes a $1.75 billion commitment from some of their biggest stakeholders, they said, will “provide ample liquidity to fund Saks Global’s operations and turnaround initiative.”

They say the bankruptcy filing will help them continue to pay their vendors, and continue employee payroll and benefits

Since bringing Neiman Marcus under their umbrella in 2024, Saks Global’s finances have been under the microscope.

The statement comes as they have also announced that former Neiman Marcus Group CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck was effective immediately. He will take over for Richard Baker, who was just hired for the job in early January.

The company, which holds the umbrella for in-store and online brands Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks OFF 5TH, Last Call, and Horchow, says those stores will remain open to serve their customers.

Neiman Marcus’ flagship store is in Downtown Dallas, where it has been for more than 100 years. After plans by Saks Global to close the iconic store at the beginning of 2025 because of landlord disagreements, they worked with the City of Dallas to keep the store open.

Saks Global has also confirmed it will close the Neiman Marcus store at Willow Bend in 2027.

Construction crane falls onto moving train in Thailand, killing at least 30 people

A construction crane fell onto a moving passenger train, causing a fiery derailment Wednesday that killed at least 30 people and injured scores in northeastern Thailand.

The derailment occurred on part of a planned high-speed rail project that will eventually connect China with much of Southeast Asia.

Anuphong Suksomnit, the governor of Nakhon Ratchasima province, where the accident took place, said four passengers among the 171 believed to have been on board the train were still missing. Searchers were still looking through the wreckage about eight hours after the morning crash.

The crane, which was being used to build an elevated part of the railway, fell as the train was traveling from Bangkok to Ubon Ratchathani province, authorities said.

Photos published in Thai media showed plumes of white then dark smoke above the scene, and construction equipment hanging down from girders between two concrete support pillars.

Rescue workers extricated survivors from mangled, overturned carriages

Rescue workers stood on top of overturned railway carriages, some of them with gaping holes torn on their sides, video from public broadcaster ThaiPBS showed. What appeared to be sections of the crane were scattered along the track.

Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said he has ordered an investigation.

In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers. Days of heavy rainfall were believed to have been a factor in the collapse.

The elevated segment that collapsed is a part of a Thai-Chinese high-speed railway project linking the national capital Bangkok to the northeastern province of Nong Khai, bordering Laos. The two-stage rail project has a total investment cost of more than 520 billion baht ($16.8 billion) and is associated with an ambitious plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.

He said authorities will examine the responsibilities of both parties, and the Railway Department plans to take legal action against the contractor as a first step. Damage to the train was estimated to be more than 100 million baht ($3.2 million), while construction equipment suffered limited damage, said Anan.

A statement posted on the company’s website expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would take responsibility for paying compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.

The new accident sparked outrage in Thailand because the main contractor for the route’s first stage between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima, Italian-Thai Development, was also directly responsible for construction on the stretch where the accident occurred.

Main contractor was tied to last year’s Bangkok building collapse

The company, also known as Italthai, was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in the Thai capital Bangkok, which collapsed during the construction stage in March during an earthquake in neighboring Myanmar.

About 100 people were killed in the collapse, which was the only major structure in Thailand to suffer such serious damage. Dozens of executives were indicted in connection with the disaster but none have yet been tried.

The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai’s and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, had occurred.

Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who was interior minister when the State Audit Building collapsed, said that the Comptroller General’s Department and Transport Ministry are responsible for blacklisting contractors, and the laws could not be amended in the brief time he was interior minister to expedite the matter.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the government was aware of the reports about the accident and had expressed condolences.

“The Chinese government attaches great importance to the safety of projects and personnel, and we are also learning about the situation,” he said. “At present, it appears that the relevant section is being constructed by a Thai company, and the cause of the accident is still under investigation.”

—

Wasamon reported from Bangkok.

Luxury retailer Saks Global files for bankruptcy as it prepares to restructure

Luxury retailer Saks Global has filed for bankruptcy, preparing to reposition itself in the increasingly competitive upscale market after obtaining about $1.75 billion in financing commitments.

The New York-based private company that owns retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus said in a release Wednesday that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas.

The company’s top executive, Marc Metrick, stepped down earlier this month as the firm struggled with debt it took on for its $2.65 billion acquisition of Neiman Marcus in 2024. He was succeeded as CEO by executive chairman Richard Baker, who quit both roles earlier this week and was replaced as chief execute by Geoffroy van Raemdonck.

The company is also facing increasing competition as it tries to winnow down its heavy debt load, while its customers have balked against extravagant price hikes.

The company said it was “evaluating its operational footprint to invest resources where it has the greatest long-term potential.”

Saks said it did not expect its operations to be disrupted and it would continue to honor its customer programs and pay its suppliers and employees.

It said it has financing commitments of $1.5 billion from some of its creditors and another $240 million in “incremental liquidity” from its lenders.

Hudson’s Bay Co., the Canadian owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, split off the luxury retailer’s e-commerce business, Saks.com, in 2021. After acquiring Neiman Marcus three years later, Saks Fifth Avenue changed its name to Saks Global.

Global sales of luxury goods are expected to contract for the second straight year in 2026 as consumers anxious about the global economy pare back their spending, according to a study by Bain & Co. consultancy released in November.

Hudson’s Bay, Canada’s oldest company, moved to begin liquidating all but six of its stores in March 2025.

Claudette Colvin, who refused to move seats on a bus at start of civil rights movement, dies at 86

Claudette Colvin, whose 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement, has died. She was 86.

Her death was announced Tuesday by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation. Ashley D. Roseboro of the organization confirmed she died of natural causes in Texas.

Colvin, at age 15, was arrested nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for also refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus.

Colvin had boarded the bus on March 2, 1955, on her way home from high school. The first rows were reserved for white passengers. Colvin sat in the rear with other Black passengers. When the white section became full, the bus driver ordered Black passengers to relinquish their seats to white passengers. Colvin refused.

“My mindset was on freedom,” Colvin said in 2021 of her refusal to give up her seat.

“So I was not going to move that day,” she said. “I told them that history had me glued to the seat.”

At the time of Colvin’s arrest, frustration was mounting over how Black people were treated on the city bus system. Another Black teenager, Mary Louise Smith, was arrested and fined that October for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger.

It was the arrest of Parks, who was a local NAACP activist, on Dec. 1, 1955, that became the final catalyst for the yearlong Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott propelled the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. into the national limelight and is considered the start of the modern civil rights movement.

Colvin was one of the four plaintiffs in the landmark lawsuit that outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery’s buses. Her death comes just over a month after Montgomery celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Bus Boycott.

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said Colvin’s action “helped lay the legal and moral foundation for the movement that would change America.”

Colvin was never as well-known as Parks, and Reed said her bravery “was too often overlooked.”

“Claudette Colvin’s life reminds us that movements are built not only by those whose names are most familiar, but by those whose courage comes early, quietly, and at great personal cost,” Reed said. “Her legacy challenges us to tell the full truth of our history and to honor every voice that helped bend the arc toward justice.”

Colvin in 2021 filed a petition to have her court record expunged. A judge granted the request.

“When I think about why I’m seeking to have my name cleared by the state, it is because I believe if that happened it would show the generation growing up now that progress is possible, and things do get better,” Colvin said at the time. “It will inspire them to make the world better.”

2025 was the third-hottest year ever recorded on Earth, data shows

Last year was the third-warmest in modern history, according to Copernicus, the European Union’s climate change monitoring service.

The conclusion came as no surprise: The past 11 years have been the 11 warmest on record, according to Copernicus data.

In 2025, the average global temperature was about 1.47 degrees Celsius (2.65 Fahrenheit) higher than from 1850 to 1900 — the period scientists use as a reference point, since it precedes the industrial era in which massive amounts of carbon pollution have been pumped into the atmosphere.

“Annual surface air temperatures were above the average across 91% of the globe,” Samantha Burgess, the strategic lead on climate for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which operates Copernicus, said at a news conference. “The primary reason for these record temperatures is the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, dominated by the burning of fossil fuels.”

World leaders pledged in the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels. But temperatures have neared or exceeded that mark for three consecutive years, leaving that dream all but dead.

“Exceeding a three-year average of 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels is a milestone that none of us wished to see,” Mauro Facchini, head of Earth observation for the European Commission’s Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space, said at the news conference. “The news is not encouraging, and the urgency of climate action has never been more important.”

U.S. agencies are expected to release their climate measurements for 2025 on Wednesday. NASA issues its report separately from that of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, since each uses different methods to compute global annual average temperature, typically resulting in some variation in the results.

However, the trajectory of all those measurements has been clear: The world is warming rapidly, dangerously and perhaps faster than scientists once expected.

The climate data from Europe is grim amid aggressive U.S. efforts to scale back regulations meant to address climate change and step away from international collaboration to curb warming.

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The Trump administration announced last week that it would withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which will leave the U.S. without a meaningful voice in global climate discussions. The administration also said the U.S. would no longer support the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which produces the world’s best reports on the pace of climate change and its effects.

Later this month, following a yearlong waiting period, the U.S. will officially leave the Paris Agreement.

President Donald Trump has called climate change a “con job,” and his administration has taken steps to scuttle or downplay key climate reports, including the National Climate Assessment. The administration is working to remove the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate the greenhouse gas pollution that causes global warming.

At the same time, it has taken steps to boost the coal industry and order coal plants to continue operating. (Coal is the fuel that produces the highest level of greenhouse gas pollution.) The administration has also pushed to reverse many of the Biden administration’s climate initiatives, including subsidies for electric vehicles.

U.S. climate pollution rose about 2.4% in 2025, according to preliminary results from the Rhodium Group, an independent research firm that tracks U.S. emissions. That’s not necessarily the result of Trump’s policies, however, since many are just beginning to take effect. Rhodium researchers said relatively high natural gas prices, the growth of energy-sucking data centers and a cooler winter in the U.S. drove the increase.

The Rhodium analysts still predict that the U.S. will reduce emissions in the future, largely because renewable energy sources are becoming cheaper than fossil fuels in many places. But the group now expects less of a drop in emissions than it did before Trump took office.

The heat trapped by greenhouse gases is making weather more extreme, increasing the risk of intense rain, heat waves and flooding.

Last year was the third-most expensive for major weather and climate disasters, according to an analysis released last week by the nonprofit organization Climate Central. In 2025, 23 weather and climate events exceeded $1 billion in damage, the report said, causing a total of 276 deaths and $115 billion in damage.

While greenhouse gas emissions are the primary driver of rising global temperatures, natural variability can play a role. The La Niña pattern, in which cooler-than-average water dominates the central Pacific, tends to dampen global temperatures, while El Niño tends to raise them.

A La Niña pattern took hold in late 2025, but NOAA scientists expect a transition back to neutral conditions early this year.

Trump flips off apparent heckler while touring Ford factory

President Donald Trump flipped the middle finger Tuesday to a person who could be heard calling him a “pedophile protector” while he toured a Ford truck factory in Michigan.

In video shared by TMZ, Trump points to a person who is not seen in the frame and mouths some words. He then flashes his middle finger in that person’s direction.

Trump was touring the factory in Dearborn before delivering a speech in Detroit on the U.S. economy.

White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement Tuesday night, “A lunatic was wildly screaming expletives in a complete fit of rage, and the President gave an appropriate and unambiguous response.”

In response to a request for comment, Ford spokesperson David Tovar said in a statement: “We’ve seen the clip you’re referring to. One of our core values is respect and we don’t condone anyone saying anything inappropriate like that within our facilities. When that happens, we have a process to deal with it but we don’t get into specific personnel matters.”

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Trump has been mentioned in the Epstein files the Justice Department has released so far as a result of the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

One of the records released last month included an email saying flight logs show Trump flew on Epstein’s plane at least eight times in the 1990s, including once with a 20-year-old woman, who was not named.

Authorities have not accused Trump of any wrongdoing, and he and the White House have repeatedly said he did nothing wrong.

The Justice Department said after the email was published that some of the documents it has released “contain untrue and sensationalist claims,” which it called “unfounded and false.”

Chisholm Challenge kicks off starting week of the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo officially starts on Friday, but the competition is already underway as 200 equestrians from therapeutic riding centers across North Texas compete in the Chisholm Challenge.

“Chisholm Challenge is my favorite portion of the Stock Show,” Chisholm Challenge Board of Directors Member Debbie Head said. “Every event is incredible because it has changed these people’s outlooks on life. They have something to look forward to.”

The Chisholm Challenge puts veterans and riders with disabilities into the spotlight in the days leading into the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. Many spend all year training for the 3 days of the Chisholm Challenge.

“I look forward to it,” Stable Strides rider and Marine veteran John Halpin said. “Being able to ride, and ride with veterans so important.”

Halpin spent more than 20 years in the Marines. The transition back into civilian life was challenging.

“I felt like I had an empty void,” Halpin said.

Halpin traded combat boots for cowboy boots and began equine therapy at Stable Strides, one of the centers that riders in the Chisholm Challenge. He says that the bond with his horse, the equine therapy community, and 12 years of riding in the Chisholm Challenge have changed his life.

“Yes, I’ve been very successful in life, but without that connection and the bond with these horses, who knows? I might not be here,” Halpin said. “The unfortunate part is so many of my friends are not here anymore because they lost that connection, they lost that sense of purpose when they get up in the morning.”

At the Chisholm Challenge, the ribbons aren’t as valuable as the experience.

“It’s not the competition,” Halpin said. “It’s the people around you, and the smiles on the veterans’ faces, and the kids, and the adults, and the parents.”

The Chisholm Challenge ends Wednesday, Jan. 13. The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo opens on Friday.

Jurors heard recorded statement from former officer charged with not doing more to stop Uvalde shooter

Jurors heard from Adrian Gonzales for the first time on Tuesday. He’s the former Uvalde school officer criminally charged for not doing more to stop the shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers.

Prosecutors played a 68-minute video statement Gonzales provided to Texas Rangers the day after the Robb Elementary shooting in May 2022.

Prosecutors wanting jurors to see and hear what he told investigators about his actions that day.

Gonzales said in the video statement, when he arrived at Robb Elementary, he saw someone he later learned was a school gym teacher fall to the ground and get back up.

“When I get out and I approach her, she’s like ‘he’s over there, he’s in black by the teacher parking’,” Gonzales recalled in the video. “So, when I look, I start hearing rounds going off. I don’t know where they’re coming from, but I know they’re getting muffled; they’re behind the building.”

Towards the end of his video statement to Texas Ranger Rick Gallardo, he said he had tunnel vision.

“Now that I can sit back, I went tunnel vision,” Gonzales said. “Like I said, with the lady that was running, they said they were running to the school, that’s where I saw, I locked in on her.”

“That was my mistake, but it was just the adrenaline rush going and shots fired, and stuff like that.”

We’ve also heard from more teachers, who shared the horror of being inside their classrooms, waiting for officers to not only stop the shooter but also rescue teachers and students.

Elsa Avila told jurors she heard a female voice screaming for everyone to get into their classrooms.

The 4th-grade teacher said she then remembered realizing she was shot, and working to remain calm and quiet, so her students would too.

Her classroom, a few doors down from where 19 students and 2 teachers were killed, was eventually entered by police from exterior windows, allowing for the rescue of the students inside.

“I was very proud of them (my students). They followed their training. they stayed down, they stayed quiet, they took care of each other, they tried to take care of me,” Avila said.

Deputy Joe Vazquez told jurors he was off duty on May 24, 2022, and immediately responded to Uvalde from neighboring Zavala County.

Vazquez told jurors he quickly went towards where eyewitnesses, including other parents, told him the shooter was believed to be located.  He said he took a position in a hallway with a few other officers

“At some point, I ask them if they want to make entry and they [replied] no,” Vazquez said. “They say something about a negotiator and a shield. He [another officer] explains that they got fired at as they made, as they approached the door.”

Vazquez was part of the initial group that breached Classroom 111, and shot and killed the shooter.  He then told jurors he left to locate his daughter, a 2nd grade student at Robb at the time, to make sure she was safe.

During questioning from prosecutor Bill Turner, Vazquez indicated to the jury that he would have approached the incident differently had he been the first officer to arrive.

“I would fire even if I had a handgun and he had a rifle,” Vazquez said. “The preference is you want to get close enough that you don’t miss, but you use what you have.”

Western diamondback rattlesnake officially recorded in Denton County for first time

The western diamondback rattlesnake is no stranger to Texas, commonly found across much of the state and in most counties around Dallas–Fort Worth. But until recently, the species had never been officially recorded in Denton County.

That changed after a western diamondback rattlesnake was removed from a garage in Argyle and later preserved for scientific study, giving researchers a rare opportunity to learn more about the species’ range in North Texas.

Greg Pandelis, collections manager and biological curator at the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington, explained why the discovery is significant.

“This western diamondback rattlesnake has been preserved for science because where it was found is very uncommon,” said Pandelis. “Since it was too late in the season to relocate it, they decided to donate it here to the Amphibian and Reptile Research Center, where we can actually study it and learn some really important things about what’s going on with these snakes in Texas.”

Pandelis said that while the species is well studied across much of the state, Denton County had remained a gap in the official record.

“We’re really excited about this because although this is a very well-studied species that occurs throughout most of Texas, other than the eastern part, to date, there’s never been an official recording of one from Denton County,” Pandelis said.

The rattlesnake, measuring about three feet long, was removed from a garage by Rob Boles, who frequently helps residents deal with unwanted snakes. Boles recalled the moment he encountered the rattlesnake.

“So we walk out in the garage and I’m like, ‘Oh, look! Oh my, it is a rattlesnake,’” Boles said. “Everybody calls me The Snake Whisperer, Snake Man. Whatever, it’s not a business for me, it’s a hobby. I don’t charge for it. I come out and help people.”

The snake was found in November, a time when many people assume reptiles are inactive. Boles said Texas weather often tells a different story and that it’s not uncommon to get calls in the winter if it warms up enough.

Pandelis believes the Denton County rattlesnake is not an isolated case, but evidence of a small population that has gone unnoticed.

“This isn’t a super long rattle. It’s kind of typical with what you see of wild rattlesnakes,” Pandelis said.

As warmer weather approaches, Boles urged residents to be cautious if they encounter a snake and to avoid approaching it.

“If you don’t know what it is, step away. Two steps and you’re away, if it’s a dangerous snake, with two steps you are out of danger,” Boles said.

Family seeks answers after deadly hit-and-run in North Texas

Dallas police are searching for the driver involved in a hit-and-run that struck a pedestrian early Sunday on the 4000 block of West Davis Street. The victim later died from his injuries, according to family members.

The victim, identified by family as Jonathan Rodriguez, was hit just before 3 a.m. near West Davis Street and Kittiwake Circle.

Family members described Rodriguez as the oldest of the grandchildren and someone who brought energy to every gathering.

“He’s just a fun, loving guy,” his uncle Frank Carrizales said. “He’s just a fun guy to be around. It’s always fun when you’re with him or his dad.”

Rodriguez had been out celebrating his birthday earlier that night.

“Jonathan was out celebrating his birthday, it’s the 11th of January,” Carrizales said.

Surveillance video shows Rodriguez standing near a median just feet from his home after crossing the roadway.

“Friends had dropped them off at his house. And he wasn’t able to get in, his phone was dead,” Carrizales said.

Moments later, a black SUV struck Rodriguez and fled westbound toward Loop 12. Carrizales said the vehicle likely has visible damage.

“It’s going to have damage on the driver’s side. When the vehicle struck him, the left taillight went dark,” Carrizales said.

Several minutes passed before another vehicle stopped to render aid.

“There was a gentleman that stopped and stayed there with him until the ambulance showed up. I just wanna thank you,” Carrizales said.

Rodriguez was taken to the hospital, where he died days later from severe injuries.

“There was a severe head trauma,” Carrizales said. “It caused brain swelling,” Carrizales said his nephew also broke the top vertebra in his neck.

As the investigation continues, Carrizales said the loss has been difficult for the family to process.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s not real to me still,” Carrizales said. “We’re with him every day, and now he’s gone.”

Dallas police have not confirmed the make or model of the suspect vehicle, citing the ongoing investigation. The family believes the vehicle may be a black SUV.

“We’ve got several camera angles of the black SUV, 2015 to 2020, black Escalade,” Carrizales said.

The family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and says they are determined to find the driver responsible.

“We’re gonna find you there. We’ve got a lot of footage so far, and it’s close,” Carrizales said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Dallas police.